Does anyone actually believe that...

[Henriksson]

...America has the best health-care system in the world? McCain, that ignorant fool, recently said that in a speech. Maybe he was refering to his own healthcare, that sick capitalist fool.

A quick search on Wikipedia reveals that that's not the case. USA is actually only #37.

Read this if you're doubting. (http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html)

[Chidori]

England is where the party's at.

[GcarOatmealRaisinCookies]

I am quite certain the US's Healthcare system is worse than 37th.
When we need affordable medications we have to go to Canada, and we ignore some valid medical practices in China as well as other countries.

[Serallena]

Excues me while I laugh bitterly. Hah.

The U.S. is certainly top in <i>cost</i> for Health Care, but waaaaayyyy low on delivery. It's totally ridiculus, the hoops you have to jump through to actually see a doctor. If you aren't actively spurting blood in the emergency room, it could easily take weeks. Utter insantiy. But of course, a moldy carrot would be a better president than McCain (referring to a quiz I took online).

McCain vs Carrot, Question 3: Which has a better plan to get us out of Irag?
Ans: The carrot. The carrot has no plans to get us out of Irag, but McCain intends to keep us there for another hundred years, and use force instead of diplomacy.

THIS CARROT FOR PRESIDENT.

Long story short: Of course McCain said that, he's an idiot. US healthcare is utterly insane.

[Cocyta]

I thought Canada had the best health care system.

[godsaysno]

it is pretty bd canada should be pretty high up there
no one should vote McCain anyway
vote nader08 <img src='/images/emoticons/smiley1.png'>

[V2NT1]

Assuming this list is accurate, Michael Moore's assertion that Cuban health care trumped American health care was indeed wrong.

As far as politics are concerned, I think the "100 years" argument's a bit overplayed. I believe he was referring to protecting US oil supplies and interests in the region for as long as deemed necessary, not actually fighting the same war. Hillary and Obama have their own albatrosses with foreign policy, if you've been paying attention to the news- Obama is willing to risk legitimizing terrorist organizations by meeting with them (which will potentially double anti-American feeling in most parts of the world, leading to more terrorist actions and recruitment); Hillary has already gotten a bit ahead of herself, as well, threatening Iran with nuclear force (a feeling with which I do not disagree, seeing as they do pose a threat with nuclear power).

I am curious, though, about exactly what this list is based on...it is possible it is biased- like all documents, it was written by someone, and thus, may or may not reflect the ideals of the writer. This sort of thing should likely be questioned and researched before believing outright.

Note: This study was also done 8 years ago, so that may be another accuracy issue.

Additional Edit: It further explains things in the following link (it should be noted that the US health care system is rated as among the most responsive of systems in the world in the same study).

http://www.photius.com/rankings/who_world_health_ranks.html

One way or another, whether 8 years matters or not, you all can decide for yourselves. I just think showing only one side, and not the other, in an argument is somewhat unfair...but that's just me.

Final Edit: And no, I also do not think the US has the BEST health care in the world, but I also do not think it is as terrible as many believe it to be.

[darkarcher]

Does US have the best HealthCare? No.
Should HealthCare be socialized? Probably not. I don't think so, anyway.

[DarkWarrior]

I'd like to note that you are not presenting a very strong case, Henriksson, if you taint your post with immature things likesick capitalist fool.
Really, given the fact that our whole economy is rooted in capitalism...Yeah, it only makes your statement look foolish. I'd consider better wording when presenting a case.

[HeavyDDR]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Oh lawd.

No.

Don't make me laugh like that. When I laugh that hard 9/11 occurs.

[Henriksson]

What're you laughin' at?

[Serallena]

Oh, the scaring terrorists. Tell me how many weapons of mass destruction we found in Iraq, please. Though I must say, you're being very polite and sane about my violent rantings - gotta congradulate you on that.

[DarkWarrior]

I think a lot of people are forgetting just why we went into Iraq in the first place.
We did not go in because they had, or even because we thought they had, nuclear weapons.
We went in because they would not allow the U.N. inspectors in to do their job correctly, as was one of the agreements of the Cease-Fire from the Gulf War. Saddam went against that agreement, and that's why we're in. Not because we thought there were weapons there. Whether or not we found weapons there is irrelevant.
I could also go on about how the war there technically never ended, and we're just finishing the job, but that'd be throwing the topic in a whole different direction.

[HeavyDDR]

How people think our health care is the best.

We have one of the most expensive and we find ourselves more concerned about getting into another person's wallet then getting them into a hospital. The day I pay for an extra pillow at a hospital is the day I allow Japan to completely merge into America.

[V2NT1]

I think the argument can be summed up this way- America's health care system is highly unlikely to be THE best (out of 191 nations, and with different methods of rating efficiency), but it is also nowhere near as flawed or failed as the majority of health care systems the world over.

As for McCain being a "capitalist fool", you'd pretty much have to say that about most Americans, since, as DarkWarrior stated, we ARE a capitalist, free-market nation. Socialism usually works somewhat in the very short term, but ends up failing in the end. If I recall rightly, legislature had to be passed in France so that employers could be allowed to fire their own workers, which is a right of the employer in a capitalist society (this means that people working in those jobs, under a more socialist policy, do not earn jobs, but are guaranteed them by the state, even if they are lazy or inefficient).

Plenty of politicians say stupid and/or overblown things during election years. If the "best health care" gaffe (if it can even be called a gaffe) was McCain's, Obama had his "bitter" comment about people "clinging to guns and religion," Comments and mistakes like this on the campaign trail are not kept to one party- both sides make mistakes. And that's just talking about America; it's no better in other nations. Politics is politics. Nature of the beast, I suppose.

[atemssoulmate]

Having lived in Canada, England, Scotland and Sweden, I'd have to say from my experience that Scandinavia has the best healthcare system. Medicine is heavily subsidized, no long queues for operations and dentalcare is free until you reach 18, including braces. Now that's what I call a healthcare system.

[lukeh]

Wikipedia cant be trusted.

[TheRealFolkBlues]

Sorry, I prefer not to wait months just to get an MRI, wait in long lines, government form a monopoly in the free market, or have taxes jacked up.

Universal health scare is a scam.

[atemssoulmate]

Universal health scare is a scam.
Sorry, but it works well in other countries, like in Sweden. We have really good health care here. It is possible, just maybe not for Americans. I wonder why that is.

[Tatterdemalion]

As far as universal healthcare is concerned...the problem is not that socialized healthcare can not work, or that socialized anything can not work, but is simply that socialized/universal healthcare can not work at this time in the United States. A strong socialized healthcare system can be effectively sustained in a country in which the government is not dictated by layers upon layers of beaurocracy, in which there is not such a distance between people and their representatives that people feel detached from the government and its decisions, in which people think on a national level as opposed to a purely personal level, and in which people are willing to make a significant sacrifice for the sake of the community, with the understanding that they will, come their turn, recieve its benefits.

America is none of these things. The operative word in "socialized healthcare" is "socialized". If a society is a shambles, how can you expect its social programs to be any better?

[atemssoulmate]

sad, but true

[TheFall]

I support McCain, but he is wrong on this subject. Most people know that Sweden, amongst other European countries, has the greatest health care system. Probably because they don't fight equaling more money.

[Henriksson]

Which says something about the state the US is in, doesn't it? <img src='/images/emoticons/smiley5.png'>

[Henriksson]

Wikipedia can't be trusted
...except when it agrees with you. <img src='/images/emoticons/smiley2.png'>

[Heartfout]

Why don't you like Japan?

But seriously, I live in Britain, where we have all this fuss about waiting times in our NHS (Which is socialised) and then you say you have that trouble over there PLUS greedy people caring more for wallets than patients...May I be excused for feeling smug?